Cruisin' Down the River

As I noted more or less in the middle of my last post we did arrive in Leeuwarden safe and sound.  Jeremy picked us up at the train station Thursday and, navigating as much by instinct as anything, found his way back to Becky Addy.  Isn't she cute?

 Here's the proud skipper, Jeremy.

And the brains behind the whole operation, Elaine.  For those not up to speed on our relationship, we met Jeremy and Elaine when they were running the hospital in Africa where I did cataract surgery.  He's English, she's from New Zeeland, and they've lived in France for ever so long.

Here Jeremy and I are assuming serious demeanors as befits men of import.

And here Elaine's assuming a languorous pose to show off her boudoir.

The boat is at the marina where she's been since Jeremy and Elaine left her there last spring.  It's possible to keep your boat indoors in a heated place but still in the water.  Clever.  Jeremy and Elaine may do that with Becky Addy this winter if they get back here.

Nancy and I decided our proper place was in the galley doing dishes.  Nancy washes and I dry.

The skipper mostly skippers and keeps us out of trouble.  Elaine takes care of us all.

Here's the slip where we spent the night.  It was, by the way, quite a night with very high winds, lightning, thunder, and hail.  That sort of weather was to persist for the next couple of days, interspersed with brilliant sunshine.  I've never seen such weather other than in the mountains.

This is the larger view from the marina.

First stop - fuel dock.

The captain's plotting our course.

Lot's of wind.

The transmission was leaking fluid.  Jeremy assured us it was trivial.  Ok.

Did I mention it was REALLY windy?

Just a few pictures.  What an amazing way to travel.

These kids were setting up for a game of canoe polo.  That would be something to see.

In any event, they told us we had to turn around.  Ok.

Here we're coming to an aqueduct over a highway.

The weather, as I said, varied from brilliant sun to driving rain in very high wind.  It was awesome and beautiful.  I found it hard to pick photos so will just show you several.

We stopped in the little village of Wergea.

Someone thoughtfully put up a nest.

We got back to the boat just as it began, yet again, to rain.

We left Wergea and found a place to moor for the night.  There are hundreds, maybe thousands, of spots like this in the Netherlands.  You can just tie up for the night.

The wind was blowing very hard, trying to push us off.  It was hard bringing the boat in.

We created a veritable spider web of lines to keep us in place.

It was utterly lovely.

We ate dinner, drank a bit too much wine and played Scrabble.  What more could you want?

The next day we were off again.

We headed for Grow.

And went for a walk.

Then we were off again.

We passed over another highway.  How much do you suppose a canal filled with water weighs?

We passed through Akkrum and past some beautiful boats.

Now here's a fun thing.  Not all the bridges are tolled, but some are.

When you pass through one of the tolled bridges the bridge keeper swings out a wooden shoe (a clog, as they say) into which you put your money.

I had to include one photo of the pouring rain that we had when we didn't have pouring sun.

We passed into the Sneekermeer

and tied up at another of those wonderful mooring places.  This one was, if anything, more beautiful than the one before.

The sun set.  Tonight we were having Kir before dinner.  We were content.
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The next day, yesterday, we were off to Sneek.  We crossed the Sneekermeer without incident

and tied up right smack dab in the middle of town.

These fellows were tied up just ahead of us.  The man inside is playing his accordion.

This is the Frisian flag.  They have their own language, you know, and are, I think, quite proud to be Frisian.

This bridge looked to me for all the world like a raked ships mast with rigging.  We encountered it as we went for our walk to explore Sneek.

First off, of course, we needed to stop for a beer.

The weather had finally changed to cold and rainy all the time.  No matter.

Next stop was lunch and another beer (or two).  We ate at "The Walrus" and it was delicious.

Here Elaine is emulating a walrus, in case you were wondering.

And so back to the boat and to dinner and a new game -- "Diminishing Returns".  It was fun.  Rules and such available upon request.

Today, Monday, we simply hung out in Sneek.  It's now nearly 5:30 and I've been back at "The Walrus" for the past couple of hours getting caught up on the blog.  Our internet access is extremely intermittent so I needed to make hay while the rain comes down.  Actually, it's not raining at the moment, and it's warmer than yesterday.  Still windy though.  We'll see what tomorrow brings.  I have no idea where we're going.  I'll let you know.